BRIGHT-NIGHT, the European Researchers’ Night in Tuscany, Returns on Friday, 25 September
Research as a tool for caring for people, communities and the planet: across Tuscany, talks, experiments and interactive activities will invite the public to reflect on the future together. The project is funded by the European Commission and supported by the Tuscany Region through the Giovanisì programme.
BRIGHT-NIGHT, the European Researchers’ Night, will return on Friday, 25 September. Promoted by the European Commission, the initiative brings research out of laboratories and into public squares, museums, schools and everyday spaces, creating opportunities for dialogue and engagement between science and society.
The 2026 edition will be dedicated to the theme of “caring”, understood as a responsibility towards people, communities, relationships and the environment. In a context marked by profound social, environmental and technological transformations, research is called upon to contribute concretely to collective well-being by fostering knowledge that is responsible, ethical and accessible.
BRIGHT-NIGHT 2026 will invite the public to explore how science can become a tool for care through multiple perspectives: from health and personal well-being to environmental sustainability; from community participation to knowledge sharing; and from the responsible development of new technologies to the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
Once again, towns and cities across Tuscany will come alive with workshops, experiments, demonstrations, talks, exhibitions, performances, and guided visits to museums and research laboratories. Researchers will meet citizens to share their work and demonstrate how research contributes every day to addressing the major challenges of our time.
The event is promoted by Tuscany’s higher education institutions — University of Florence, University of Pisa, University of Siena, University for Foreigners of Siena, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Scuola Normale Superiore and IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca — together with a broad network of research institutions, including the National Research Council of Italy, National Institute for Nuclear Physics, National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, European Gravitational Observatory and the INAF Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, with the support of the Region of Tuscany through the Giovanisì programme.
As in previous editions, special attention will be devoted to children, families and schools, with activities designed to inspire younger generations and bring them closer to the world of research and knowledge.
The acronym BRIGHT-NIGHT — Brilliant Researchers Impact on Growth, Health and Trust in Research — embodies the idea of research as a driver of growth, health and trust. In the 2026 edition, these values are brought together under the overarching theme of caring. The initiative aims to promote a vision of science as a public good, capable of responding to society’s needs and contributing to a more equitable and sustainable future.
BRIGHT-NIGHT is funded by the European Commission under the HORIZON-MSCA-2023-CITIZENS-01programme.
For more information, visit: www.bright-night.it
